Unit 3E

Text by Edward Keegan

A one-bedroom unit in a Ludwig Mies van der Rohe–designed apartment building in Chicago has been reconceived by local firm Vladimir Radutny Architects as a studio that provides unobstructed views of Lake Michigan from all points within the 750-square-foot space.

Built out by Harder Brothers, the open interior is configured with living and sleeping areas that are subtly separated by a glass partition—half headboard, half room divider—with an applied gradient pattern that provides just a touch of privacy.

To create the cleanest overall layout, storage is relegated to the periphery or neatly tucked away into the low-profile millwork and shelving that line the apartment. A wood wall, seen as an element that thematically relates to millwork elsewhere in the unit, conceals a closet and drawers. A second closet sits next to the kitchen, where its doors appear to be part of the cabinetry.

In a spare space where every element must pull double duty, daylight reaches the kitchen at the apartment’s most interior point through not a window but a carefully placed smart-glass enclosure for the bathroom shower. In all things, the architect took seriously Mies’ famous dictum, “Less is more.”

This project contains very detailed, and very custom, features in a small space.
— Juror Katherine Hogan

Architect: Vladimir Radutny ArchitectsBuilder: Harder Brothers
Size: 750 square feet
Cost: $147 per square foot